Connector construction



y 1960 E. c. QUACKENBUSH 2,945,203

CONNECTOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 13., 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l 20K f 2a 22II fi INVENTOR. Edward Clarke Quockenbush ATTORNEYS y 12, 1960 E. c.QUACKENBUSH 2,945,203

CONNECTOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 13, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 um "mu- 6 22FIGS 20 24 )0 12 'INVENT Edward Clarke Quock e sh 8mm $7M w ATTORNEYSStates CONNECTOR CONSTRUCTION Edward Clarke Quackenbush, Hamden, Conn,assignor to The Whitney Blake Company, New Haven, Conn, a corporation ofConnecticut Filed Nov. 13, 1956, Ser. No. 621,957

4 Claims. Cl. 339-59 It 1s a principal object of my present invention toprovide a moisture proof seating construction for securing both contactmembers and conductors within such bores in a manner preventingextrusion of such contacts and conductors upon the axial mating of sucha connector with a correspondingly arranged complementary connector. Itwill, however; be apparent that the construc- 'tion of my presentinvention is applicable to mounting contacts and conductors inanytresilient connector body provided with bores for receiving suchcontacts and conductors.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a contact andconductor mounting construction in which a variety of conductor sizescan be employed for any given bore diameter and in the resilientconnector body.

These and other objects of my invention are essentially obtained bysecuring the conductor to the non-mating end of the contact member, bypositioning a gripping band about the insulated covering of theconductor, by inserting the assembled contact, conductor and band withina bore through the resilient connector body, the rigid band beingcompressed about the insulated covering of the conductor and wedgedwithin the bore. The conductor, where it extends between the contactmember and gripping band, should be self-supporting. Accommodation toconductor 2,945,293 Patented July 12, 196i) ice An adjustable hose clamptightened about such extended portion thereby increases the grip offeredby the band between the resilient connector body and the insulatedcovering of the conductor.

For a more complete understanding for the principles of my invention,reference is made to the appended drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a connector plug including the contactand conductor mounting construction of my invention; a I

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a plug and receptacle priorto insertion of contacts;

Figure 3 is a view of socket and pin contacts and appropriate strippedconductors arranged prior to connection of the contacts and conductors;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the contacts andconductors assembled for insertion in the connector bodies shown inFigure 2;

Figure 5 is alongitudinal sectional view'similar to that shown in Figure2 illustrating the connectors with contacts and conductors inserted'inposition;

- Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 showing the connectors inmating position;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 4 illustrating another arrangementof contact and conductor connection;

- and sizes smaller in diameter than the bore is achieved by the rigidshell receiving such resilient body and the rigid bands used to grip theconnectors in position are arranged to lie within such extended portionof the connector body.

Figure 8 is another view similar to Figure 4 illustrating still anotherarrangement of contactand conductorconnection. v

In the drawings referring particularly to Figure 2, the referencenumeral 10 represents a connector plug and the reference numeral 20represents a complementary connector receptacle for axially matingwithplug 10.

Plug 10 is provided with a rigid, substantially cylindrical shell 11 inwhich is molded a resilient body 12.

Body 12 preferably is formed in shell 11 by the method of my aforenotedcopending application. It however can be separately'molded andsubsequently inserted in shell 11 in the conventional manner. Receptacle20 is similarly provided with a shell 21 in which is molded a resilientbody 22.

Each of resilient bodies 12 and 22 are provided with a plurality oflongitudinal bores 13 and 23, respectively, of which one only of each isshown for the sake of clarity. Bores 13 and 23, as will be seen inFigure 2, are aligned when plug 10 is positioned to mate with receptacle20 upon relative axial movement, that is, they are correspondinglydisposed in their respective connector bodies. It will be furtherobserved that the mating end 14 of shell 11 is provided with a freelyrotatable, internally threaded coupling nut 15 for securing engagementof plug 10 with receptacle 20 in the conventionalmanner receivingexternally threaded end portion 24 of shell 21. It will be furtherobserved that in the conventional manner end 14 of shell 11 extendsbeyond body 12 and end 24 is spaced from body 22 in order that on axialengagement of connectors 10 and 20 a rigid mechanical fit between shell11 and shell 21 can be obtained.

It will be further observed that the mating face of resilient body 12,which is recessed within end 14 of shell 11, is provided with a shortboss 16 projecting toward 'the mating face of resilient body 22 andenclosing an axial extension 17" of bore 13 which has a diameterreduced'from-that of the major portion of bore 13. The

mating face of resilient body 22 is provided with a tapered opening 27leading into bore 23 having a diameter'as it enters bore 23significantly less than the diameter of bore 23. v

The ends 13 and 28 of resilient bodies 12 and 22 remote from theirrespective mating ends project beyon rigid shells 11 and 21,respectively.

Referring to Figure 3 there is shown a pair of insulated conductor ends30 and 31 in which the insulation is stripped back to bare the conductorfor a short length. Also shown in Figure 3 are a typical pin contactmember 32 and atypical socket contact member 33 the lat-, ter being morefully shown in my cope'nding application Serial Number 504,635, filedApril 28, 1955, now abans doned. Pin contact number 32 is provided withan axially bored baseportion 34 and a pin portion 36,. Socket contactmember 33 issimilarly provided with an axially bored base portion 35 anda socket portion 37 including a plurality of tines 38 covered by asleeve 39 such as disclosed in my copending application Serial Number504,635.

Referring to Figure 4, it will be observed thatrpin contact number 32,and conductor 30am secured together by inserting the stripped end ofthe, conductor into the axial bore of base 34; Base 34 is thereuponcrimped to close it upon the stripped-end of conductor 30 leaving theinsulation of conductor 31} flush with and abutting the terminal end ofbase portion 34. A strip of metal is.

then wrapped about the insulation of conductor 30 a-short distance from:the. terminal end ofbase portion 34 to provide a band 43 firmly grippingthe insulation of conductor 30. Also referring to Figure -4, socketcontact member 33 and conductor 3l1are similarly connected with thestripped end of conductor 31 crimped in position inthe axial bore ofbase portion 35 and with the insulation of conductor 31 abutting theterminal end of base portion 35. A strip of metal 41 is similarlywrapped about the insulated covering of insulated conductor 31 a shortdistance from the terminal endofbase portion 35.

Referring to Figure 5, it will be observed that the assembled conductorsand contacts shown in Figure 4 are inserted into bores 13 and 2 3 in theconnector bodies shown in Figure 2, thus pin contact member 32 ispositionedin bore 13 with its pin portion 36 extending through bore 17and emerging from boss 16. Band 40 wedges into bore 13 since bore '13.has essentially the same diameter as insulated condutor 30. Band 40 thusproceptacle shown in Figure 5 are illustrated in mated position with pinportion 36 received by socket portion 37 and with boss =16 tightlyreceived in tapered bore 27 providinga fluid tight, moisture proof sealabout mated contacts 32 and 33 between the mating faces of resilientbodies 12 and 22. During axial engagement of plug 10 and receptacle 20extrusion of contacts 32 and 33 is pre vented since bands and 41 firmlyare seated in position and at the same time the self-supporting portionsdenoted by the reference letters A and B prevent conductors 3i) and 31from buckling Within bores 13 and 23.

The same sure seating action can be achieved using conductors havingdiameters smaller than those of the bores in which they are seated. Allthat is required is that the portion of the conductor extending betweenthe terminal nd of the conta t a d the gr ppi band be enlarged to renderthe conductors self-supporting. Thus in Figure 7, I have illustratedin amanner similar to that of Figure 4 an arrangement for securing a typicalpin contact 32 and socket contact 33 to smaller diameter conductors and5.1. In thisinstance the end of conductor 5@ is stripped a considerabledistance such that, upon insertion and crimping the stripped conductorin place in the axial bore of base portion 34, a tightly spaced helicalwire coil 52 positioned over the stripped portion of conductor 50between the terminal end of base portion 34 and the endof the insulatedportion of insulated conductor 53 enlarges the 'elfective'diameter ofthe conductor to produce a tight fit within bore 13 which will maintainthat portion of the conductor between contact 32 and gripping band 40 ina self-supporting state. The

' stripped end of conductor 51 is similarly secured in socket contact 33with a portion of; the stripped end extending from the terminal end ofbase portion 35 to receive a similar helical wire coil 54 which willrender conduc tor 5 1 self-supporting in bore 23 between the terminalend of base portion 35 and gripping band 41.

When it is, desired to employ conductors of even smaller diameters, asimilar arrangementallowing the insulated covering to extend beneath thehelical coils will achieve, exactly the same result. Thus in Figure8vides a firm grip between resilient body 12 and conductor 7 36. Also forthe same reason theportion of insulated conductor 30 indicated by thereference letter A is self- I supporting in bgreg3ii, that is there isno freedom of motion between insulated conductor 30 and bore 13.

Also referring to Figure 5, socket contact member 33 is similarlypositioned in bore 23 with a tip of its socket portion 37 restingagainst the reduced diameter of tapered bore 27;. In the same manner asin the case of plug 10, because the diameter of insulated conductor 31is substantially the same as bore 23, band 41 provides a firm gripbetween resilient body 32 and conductor 31, and the portion of insulatedconductor 31 lying between band 41 and contact 33, indicated by thereference letter B, is self-supporting in bore 23.

It will be also noted that ideally the position of bands 40 and 41 fallrespectively within the extended portions 14 and 28 of bodies 12 and 22.Additional gripping action can be achieved by providing an adjustablehose clamp secured and tightened about such extended portions. Thus inFigure 1 which showsan end view of a typical connector plug 10 a hoseclamp 42 of'conventional construction provided with an adjusting screw43 is positioned over extended portion-1S and tightened to increase thepressure on gripping bands '40. A similarhose clamp 44 can be employedto tighten end portion 28 of receptacle 20 about bands 41.

Referring to Figure6 the assembled plug 10 and rea pair of smalldiameter insulated conductors 60 and 61 are shown secured respectivelyto pin contaot 32 and socket contact 33 with their insulated portionsextending up to the terminal ends ofbase portions'34 and 35respectively. In this. arrangement coils 52'; and 54 are positioned oversuch insulated covering and abut the terminal ends of the socketcontacts and the associated grip.- ping bands 40v and 41.

I claim:

l. A connector of the axial mating type which comprises a resilient bodyhaving a bore therethrough, a first elongated contact member disposed insaid bore for axially mating at one end with a second contact membercorrespondingly disposed in. a complementary connector, said firstcontact member being axially slidable in said bore, a conductorextending into said bore afiixed to the other end of said first contactmember, an insulated covering about said conductor extending into saidbore, a rigid band tightly positioned over said insulated covering insaid bore spaced from said first contact member, thereby leaving aportion of said conductor extending in said bore between said band andsaid first contact member, said band being of a size tightly received insaid bore, said conductor being of a size loosely received in said borewhereby said portion of said conductor is spaced from the walls of saidbore, andmeans positioned in said bore surrounding said portion of saidconductor abutting said other end of said first contact member andfilling the space between said portion of said conductor and the wallsof said bore to support said portion of said conductor insaid borebetween said band and 'said first contact member.

2. A connector according to claim 1 in which said meanscomprises anextension of saidinsulated covering in said bore from said hand up toand abutting the other end of said first contact member.

3. A connector according to claim 1 in which said means comprises acoiled element positioned in said bore surrounding said portion of saidconductor at one 5 end abutting said other end of said first contactmember and at the other end abutting the end of said insulated covering.

4. A connector according to claim 1 in which said means comprises anextension of said insulated covering 10 in said bore from said band upto and abutting the other end of said first contact member, and a coiledelement positioned in said bore surrounding said portion of saidconductor and said extension of said insulated covering at one endabutting said band andat the other end abutting said other end of saidfirst contact member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

